STARS
by Jiaqui
Summary: So me and my four friends, only two others being Naruto-savvy, use a spell to place us near the ones fate chose for us. Includes Akatsuki love, Sasukeness, Konoha characters, fangirl plights,and torturing Kabuto. ItachiOC, DeiOC, KibaOC, ShikaOC, SasukeOC
1. Prologue Spell

**Okay, so I know I haven't updated on the Murtagh one, and I might not 'cause I don't remember where I was going with it...(I'M SORRY!) But I have a good reason to work on this one! So, I'm...Mandy...which is weird 'cause I changed all our names slightly. I'm used to Megan and mine's names being almost the same except for the very end, so...anywho, only Sarah doesn't know I'm writing this yet, Kat should read it shortly, and Megan and Alicia have been helping me write it, with Megan writing all her lines, etc. Please enjoy this classic fangirl syndrome story!**

Five young girls sat on their knees at points of a star drawn out on the carpet with yarn. The one at the top point looked through her dirty blonde hair to shuffle fifteen black-backed cards before drawing one herself and passing the stack to the left. This one's wavy dark brown hair was pulled behind her ears. She too shuffled and drew, then passed it along. Next was another blonde whose hazel eyes shown out in the small light of five candles in the center. The process continued, past a dark-shinned girl with shorter hair and finally to another dirty-blonde girl, who finished and passed to remaining ten cards to the first.

After setting the stack out of the star behind them, she nodded and they all set the cards down face up. A small groan of disbelief came from one of the blonde ones. Mandy waved her hand and Megan quieted. She started with herself.

"Itachi," she smirked a bit, "Shikamaru," she nodded at Sarahantha, "Kiba," then Alicia, "Sasuke," she tried not to glare at Kat, "and Deidara," she finished with Megan. Sarahantha and Alicia's faces stayed blank, while Kat smirked and Megan tried to look a little disappointed.

"My Neji…" she muttered.

Mandy nodded her head again and each picked up a candle from the center. The unscented white candles burned silently for a few minutes before they, in unison, let a bit of the melted wax drip over the edge and onto the faces of their cards on the ground. Then they picked up the cards in their right hands, kissed the wax, and blew out the candles.

Soft wind rustled the trees overhead as Sarahantha gently opened her eyes. Immediately she sat up to look around, fear clawing its way through her stomach. She noticed Alicia and crawled over to shake her awake. "Hey! We've got a problem here!" she whispered frantically.

"Whuh…" she blinked confused that her glasses were still on. It took two full seconds for both of them to be up on their feet, looking around with wide eyes. "…Dream?"

"Doubt it." Sarah pinched Alicia.

"OW!"

"Nope, not a dream."

"Well darn…"

"So…we're in some forest?"

"Yeah…tall trees…" Alicia turned back to Sarah. "AH!" she screamed and pointed.

"WHAT?" Sarahantha followed the point with her eyes down to her stomach. She blinked. "HOW THE HELL DID THAT HAPPEN? Ah, you too!" Both put their hands on their now completely flat stomachs.

"This can't be healthy…" Alicia muttered. Sarah pulled her white American flag shirt up to check for scars. Her skin was completely smooth.

"Duuuuude…"

"Wait, what is the last thing you remember?" Alicia put a hand on her upper arm.

"Uh…blowing out those candles." They stared at each other for a minute. It was like a timer ticking down.

"I'M GONNA KILL 'ER!"

"HOW THE HELL DID IT WORK?"

A pause.

"This is kinda awesome…" Sarah smiled.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE DEAL, HERE?" Kat screamed and struggled against the restraints that held her against a cold metal table in a dark, ominously green glowing lab. She looked to her right and saw a figure pass by the open doorway. "HEY YOU! YEAH YOU, YA FUCKTARD! LEMMIE OUT; WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? DON'T YOU KNOW I'LL KILL YOU?" She continued to struggle helplessly. The figure paused and entered, all the while speaking gibberish to her. "What is that, Japanese? C'mon man, I NEED to pee so bad and I NEED to split your skull, so if you could just walk a _little_ bit fast….er…." The figure came into the light. She twisted her wrist and pointed, "K-Kabuto?"

Kabuto cocked his head in surprise, then his expression darkened. He started speaking again, and all Kat could make out was 'Orochimaru-Saraha' this and 'Orochimaru-Saraha' that. "Typical. I get to have the most shittastic dream and it's _you._ Y'know, even if Mandy likes you a bit, I'm still gonna feast on your living guts. Now LET ME OFF OF THIS FUCKING TABLE!"

Kabuto realized a few moments earlier that the strange girl couldn't understand him. All the more interesting; he would have to think of a different way to get information. He strolled over beside her, looked down mockingly, and tied her right wrist to his.

"No, ya see, if you're gonna rape me, you're going about it all wrong. First you gotta give me the nice drugs that make me forget until morning, then you gotta get a camera and-" he tied a loose piece of clothe over her mouth. Her muffled indignations made him chuckle. However, he did (unknowingly of course) follow her advice and drugged her. The last thing she saw was his back as he threw her over his shoulder.

Megan groaned as she stretched and popped her back. "Dude, I thought I told you guys not to let me sleep on my stomach." She turned and looked for the others, but couldn't see anything in the solid black darkness. She got to her knees and crawled around, feeling blindly for someone. When she found a body, she shook it, earning more groans for the silence.

"Y'kno m'not mor'ing persah…" Mandy turned over and curled back into a ball. Megan ignored her and kept pushing. "I'm up, I'm up. What's wrong?"

"I dunno, I can't see anything."

"D'oh, I'll find the light…" she stood and walked cautiously forward, hands outstretched for the wall. When she reached it, she paused, then searched around frantically. "Dude…this isn't my wall…"

"What do you mean, we fell asleep in the TV room."

"Yeah, but this isn't paneling. And the ground isn't carpet…"

"Well…we could have slept walk…"

"I swear, there's no room like this in my house…"

"So…we were kidnapped?"

"Yeah…maybe…" Mandy grew steadily quieter, then sat against the wall.


	2. Chapter 1: The Loudest Ninja

**A/N So yeah, I already got the first few chapters made, so _those_ updates should be fast, then it could get a bit slower (like once a week). But thank you for reading. ^.^**

"Yeah, but we can't actually _stay_ here!"

"Well…yeah, cause we don't anything about here!"  
>"Wait…if it worked…"<br>"Where're the others?" They both gulped.  
>Alicia and Sarah walked to the left of a small river, downstream, hoping to come across a city or...anything. So far all they could see was and endless forest. After the first hour, their stomachs had started growling. Now Sarah poked at hers every time it did, and Alicia growled along with it.<br>"So...we're in some anime world...?" Alicia started.  
>"With impossibly small bodies, we're shorter, fuller hair, more animated faces..." Sarah stared at the sky.<br>"And they don't have civilization for miles."  
>"Pretty much."<br>Another twenty minutes passed in silence. They stopped and rested under a rather large tree, Alicia sighing in frustration. Another few minutes later and Sarah held her hand up. Alicia heard it too; the light crunch of leaves. In seconds, a tall, brown-haired man with a cigarette walked up to them. He obviously knew they had been there, the way he strode up to them.  
>He started to talk, but it was all gibberish to their ears.<br>"Is that...Japanese?" Alicia whispered.  
>"Yeah, makes sense, but..."<br>Asuma stopped and just stared, then motioned for them to follow. "_You're obviously civilians. No attempt to conceal yourselves. What are your names?"_  
>The two girls looked back at each other after they stood.. "Well...he looks familiar..." Sarah said, confident he couldn't understand them. He turned and looked back to them, confused.<br>"_I'll take you to Hokage-Saraha."_  
><em>"<em>Hokage?" Alicia questioned. "Isn't that like...the leader? The king?"  
>"More like a dictator from what I heard..."<br>"_Yes, Hokage-Saraha._" _At least they understand that much...strange, I've never heard their language before..._  
>In no time they were at the village gates. Sarah facepalmed and Alicia's face held a sour expression. "So if we're here, where are the others?"<br>"I dunno, I think she said it was some silly ritual to get us to have the opportunity to be with the ones fate chose for us," Sarah looked around with curious eyes.  
>"So...we're not...dreaming...?"<br>"Do you want me to pinch you again?" She smiled evilly.  
>"N-no, I'm good..."<br>"Hey, tall dude? Uh...ninja person?" Alicia poked Asuma's arm for her. "Thanks." She rubbed her belly when he turned around, earning another grumble from it. He paused, smirked, and took a small detour to buy a couple sticks of dango from a street vendor. The girls nommed with happy faces as they walked to the far edge of the surprising large village.  
>Alicia pointed up at the Hokage Monument with her empty stick. "Dude, they totally stole that from us."<br>"Yeah, but if they have the powers they go on about, they didn't achieve it from hard work like we did."  
>"Psh, weaklings."<br>Sarah looked around wearily. "Sure, call an entire ninja city weaklings. Real smart."  
>"Well, they can't understand us!"<br>Asuma held the door for them and they nodded in thanks. Four flights of stairs and only two people panting later, they stood in front of the double doors. He knocked and entered after a voice. Tsunade sat in front of them, with Shizune holding Ton-ton to her left.  
>"<em>Asuma, why have you brought me civilians in...sleepwear?"<em>  
><em>"They were sitting the forest outside the gates, and they don't understand our language other than a few choice words." <em>He bowed to her.  
>"<em>Such as...?"<em>  
><em>"Hokage, for one. And if they know that, they probably know a few others."<em>  
><em>"Interesting. Speak," <em>she instructed the now blank-faced girls.  
>Tsunade deadpanned.<br>They stood in harsh silence.  
>"<em>Well, how do we get them to talk?"<em>  
><em>"Milady, if I may...?"<em>  
><em>"By all means, Shizune."<em>  
>Shizune put Ton-ton down and walked in front of them. She looked between the two before stepping in front of Sarah and putting two fingers each to her cheeks. She pushed them out and in, kinda like a fishy-face or a massage. Sarah looked at her like she was an idiot before slapping her hands away. Shizune blushed and moved back behind Tsunade.<br>Tsunade gave Shizune the Sarahe idiotic look. "_And that was...?"_  
><em>"T-trying to imitate speaking..."<em>  
>Asuma sweatdropped. <em>"If you don't mind, Hokage-Saraha..."<em>  
><em>"Yes, you are free to leave," <em>she dismissed with a wave of her hand_._ Tsunade continued to stare at the girls as Asuma gave them one last look, shake of the head, and walked out.  
><em>"Hm...any more <em>bright_ ideas, Shizune?"_  
><em>"N-no, Milady..."<em>  
><em>"Maybe we should bring in some experts..."<em>  
>All the while, Alicia and Sarah took turns between glancing from Tsunade, to each other, and down at the ground.<p>

About ten minutes later, Shizune returned with a very familiar purple clad blonde.  
>"<em>Yes, Hokage-Saraha?"<em>  
><em>"You're a teenage girl; get those two to talk."<em>  
><em>"Uh...s-sure..."<em> She awkwardly turned to Alicia on the left. "_Hi...?"_  
><em>"No, they don't speak our language, or any other documented..."<em> Tsunade looked at her like she was a dumbass.  
>"<em>Then what am I supposed to do?"<em>  
><em>"I THOUGHT YOU GOT THE LOUDEST, MOST OBNOXIOUS TEENAGER, SHIZUNE!"<em>  
><em>"I TRIED, BUT NARUTO'S STILL OFF TRAINING!" <em>  
><em>"...oh yeah..."<em>  
><em>"...HEY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY OBNOXIOUS?"<em>  
><em>"N-nothing...go back to what you were before..."<em>  
><em>"Y-yeah...sure..." <em>Ino bowed a bit with an anger-twitching brow.  
>"<em>Hey, what's going on here?" <em>Kankuro walked in, hoping to turn in some reports from Suna.  
>"<em>We can't get those two to talk."<em>  
><em>"Uh...why...?" <em>  
><em>"I don't know!" <em>Tsunade's head hit her desk.  
>"...<em>Hey, I have an idea..."<em>

A few minutes later, Kankuro had Crow and Black Ant out. Sarah's and Alicia's faces had gone into complete what-the-fuck modes. Shizune and Tsunade were no better off. Kankuro was moving his puppets' mouths, imitating them having a conversation.  
>Finally Alicia couldn't hold it in anymore. "DUDE, WHAT THE CRAP?"<br>"ARE YOU _TRYING_ TO KILL OUR SANITY?"  
>"...too late for us, but..."<br>"Yeaaaaah..."  
>Tsunade perked up and gave up. "<em>They clearly don't speak our language. How old are they?"<em>  
><em>"I'd say about 15, Milady."<em>  
><em>"Good. Find them an apartment close to the main market stores, and assign two off-mission genin or chuunin to be their escorts. Have them be about their them to live next door for as long as it takes for the two girls to learn enough to communicate with us and live on their own. We need to figure out where they're from."<em>  
><em>"Hai, Tsunade-Saraha."<em>  
><em>"You know, Hokage-Saraha, I'll be staying in Konoha for a few weeks..."<em>  
><em>"No, you're a bit older..." <em>She half glared at Kankuro while he put away his puppets. Shizune nodded and tapped the girls on their shoulders, then motioned for them to follow. They turned around cautiously and glanced back one; Alicia at Kankuro, Sarah at Tsunade.

Shizune had them a nice, two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen whose counter served as a table. A small sitting room had a empty bookcase and a pair of chairs by a couch, but no TV. She put the key on the table and paused. "_Uh...stay?"_ She pointed to the ground.  
>Shizune turned to the door to find a couple of ninjas that could play babysitter, but saw Alicia and Sarah following her out of the corner of her eye. "<em>No." <em>She held up her hand, then pointed down to the ground again. "_Stay."_ The two girls let her leave.  
>"Dude, I think she just insulted us..." Alicia turned to explore.<br>"Nah, she just treated us like dogs." Sarah sat on the couch, yawning.  
>"Sarahe difference."<br>About twenty minutes later the door opened to reveal a young girl with dark purple hair, a guy with a spikey ponytail, and a guy with messy brown hair and a white dog by his heals.  
>The ponytail-ed one stepped forward and sighed. He pointed to himself, "<em>Shikamaru."<em>  
>The girl did the Sarahe, "<em>H-hinata."<em>  
>"<em>Kiba,<em>" he smirked and Akamaru barked with him.  
>"<em>K-Kiba-kun, you know this mission is only for me, right?"<em>  
><em>"Well, Shizune-san told you in front of me, so..."<em>  
><em>"And she mentioned teenage girls. This is gonna be so troublesome. Why can't they get teachers for them to learn how to read and talk?"<em>  
><em>"Hokage-Saraha f-figured they'd relate better to t-teenagers..."<em>  
><em>"Yeah, but why not get Ino or Sakura instead of me?"<em>  
><em>"'Cause you're the smartest one of us."<em> Shikamaru half-glared at Kiba.  
>All the while, Alicia had been waving her hand, trying to get their attention. Shika sighed and motioned for her to speak. She pointed like they had. "Alicia."<br>"_Emi?" _Kiba asked.  
>"Alicia. AaaaAliciayyyyyy." She started to get frustrated. Kiba just nodded, and Shika turned to Sarah.<br>"Sarah," she said somewhat bored. "Sarah."  
>They nodded and just stood in awkward silence.<br>"_R-really Kiba-kun, you can go..."_  
><em>"No, it is my job as a shinobi to make sure civilians feel comfortable and safe where ever they may be." <em>He stood with a triumphant smirk.  
>"<em>No, you feel it's your job as a guy to take advantage of two helpless girls..." <em>Shikamaru glanced at Kiba.  
>By now the girls had grown bored and sat next to each other on the couch, talking amongst themselves. Hinata sighed and checked the kitchen for food. "<em>Wh-why don't we take them to get good?"<em>  
><em>"Yeah..."<em>  
>So all five went to the nearby market, picking out random vegetables and fruits.<br>"This is pointless; we don't have any recipes..." Sarah sighed.  
>"Yeah, maybe Hinata can help us." Hinata turned around at her name, blushing. Alicia waved and smiled.<br>"So...they're just going to babysit us?"  
>"I guess...hopefully the others will come by here before too long..."<br>"Good, 'cause I won't be able to take this for long...  
>They nodded in agreement.<p> 


	3. Chapter 2: Kabuto in an Apron

**A/N Kat's got a temper...and cusses a ton...and is bloody...we have some of the most random conversations. O.e'**

The first thing Kat saw when she opened her eyes was those of Orochimaru, staring down from above her position on the ground. She sat up, but Kabuto's hand on her shoulder kept her from standing.  
>"<em>Why have you brought such a small, worthless child to me, Kabuto-kun?"<em>  
><em>"She does not speak a word of our language, or any know, yet all she knows is my name."<em>  
>Orochimaru looked at her more curiously. "<em>Where did you find her?"<em>  
><em>"She was passed out in one of our corridors."<em>

He paused. "_See if we have a Nara in our ranks, or some other inteligence based-jutsu user to look into her memories."_

"_Hai, Orochimaru-sama."_ Kabuto bowed low and roughly yanked Kat up, who had fallen asleep.

"Nooooo, I deserve my sleep, bitch!" Kabuto slapped her cheek loudly. She blinked and turned her head back to look at him. "WHAT THE HELL? YOU SLAP LIKE SOME LITTLE PUSSY! So you're really a chick, huh? I should've known..." Kabuto glared at her. "Oh, all right, I'll shut up..." He led her to a nondescript room with gray walls, a plan bed, a desk, and a bathroom. Once she was fully inside, he locked her in. She immediately ran to the door and started pounding on it. "HEY, WHERE'S MY FOOD? DON'T JUST TAKE ME TO THAT SNAKE-WHORE AND PASS BY THE KITCHEN, BUT NOT GIVE ME FOOD! THAT'S RIGHT, I SMELLED IT. AND IT SMELLED HORRIBLE. FEEEEEEEED ME THE SHIT! FEEEEEEEEED MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Of course, she gave up after about thirty minutes. By that time she was sleeping again, curled up, hugging her pillow. She didn't even budge when the door opened and a pair of crimson eyes, bored, looked over her. The only thing she did was snore a bit louder. Sasuke turned back to protest to Kabuto. "_Why have I been brought here?"_

"_Orochimaru-sama was wondering if you could see anything about her past with your Sharingan."_

"_I have no interest in this. Find someone else."_ He turned to leave, but Kabuto caught his arm.

"_He was afraid you'd say that, so I was told to inform you that she knows your name,"_ Kabuto bluffed.

"_So does every shinobi in Fire Country."_ He glared.

"_He also said that he would delay the training of that new jutsu until you complied."_

He faltered and reluctantly turned back. His eye twitched when she stretched and turned over. Without a second thought he zapped her ass with a bit of chidori. She jumped and fell of the bed at his feet. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" At that moment she chose to look up, and saw Sasuke's bored face staring down at her. "H-hey, what's all this staring for, eh?" He grabbed her collar and effortlessly hoisted her to her feet. "Jeez, what's the big idea with all you people? Thinking you can treat me like I'm a doll...I'm not THAT short, ya know! Hey dude, stop lookin' at me like that! Sasuke..." the last part was said in a threatening tone. His eyes narrowed. Before she knew it, the tomoes were swirling and she was lost in their depths.

It was as though her memories were being physically drawn out through his gaze. Her own eyes burned and her head swam with all she'd seen or imagined.

Blood.

Yaoi.

...Food...

More blood.

And finding a cute freshman to torture.

All the while Sasuke was analyzing the pictures and foreign words to see a hint of anything familiar. He stopped when he saw her read some picture book, his crying face taking up an entire page. He then saw her turn back to another page, where Itachi lay dead at his feet. Through her eyes, he saw her turn to a glasses-wearing blonde girl with a sad expression, her arm reaching out to pat the other's back. There he stopped, and let go of Kat's shirt so she fell to the ground.

"OW! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

Sasuke ignored her and turned to Kabuto. "_She knows about us, through some books or something, and she knows the future."_

"_Future, huh? Orochimaru-sama will be pleased..." _Kabuto left to find his master, leaving Sasuke to stare down at Kat with curiosity once again.

"Really, this staring is getting old..." she sounded tired. Sasuke changed to glaring and transported himself to the other end of the hideout. He could still hear her voice ring through his ears: 'MY FOOOOOOOOOD!'

_Useless girl. She can't even tell me how..how long must I wait?_ He clenched his fists and took his anger out on a nearby wall.

Meanwhile Kat had taken to clawing mercilessly on the door, kicking the handle, and drawing graffiti on the walls with the marker she'd found in the desk drawer. "Muahahaha, the fools!" Eventually, the kicking paid off, and the dented doorknob swung open. She stuck her head out and peeked left and right, then cautiously put a leg out, toe first. Then she rushed out and hugged the wall, trying to hide in the shadows. After a minute she stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed obnoxiously. Her head snapped to the right and she walked forward.

Two long corridors and three turns later, she entered the kitchen to see none other than Kabuto in a white apron. She deadpanned...

And burst out laughing.

Kabuto turned around with a slight blush. When he saw it was her, the blush turned into red-faced anger. He started screaming at her and pushing her back to her room, but stopped when he heard her stomach growl loudly. "You see what you people do to me?" He sighed and turned back to the kitchen. He sat her down with a shove and turned back to the stove. Kat sniffed again and smelled soup.

Twenty minutes and multiple groans and growls later, a bowl was in front of her. She discarded the spoon and took to drinking it from the side. Kabuto's eye twitched. She held out the empty bowl, asking for more. When he got up, his own soup still untouched, threw a napkin in her face so she could wipe up. Kat downed three more bowls, then sat back, rubbing her belly with a smile that creeped even Kabuto out. It was then that she noticed and let out a horrified shriek.

"WHERE'D MY STOMACH GO? I WANT MY PUDGE, IT MAKES ME WARM! NO WONDER I'VE BEEN FREEZING HERE! ...well, at least I can still eat as muc-" His hand smothered her mouth, but she bit him. Instead of letting him pull away to nurse his wound, she kept his hand to her mouth and started sucking his blood. "Mmmm...EW, AB BLOOD! Bastard..." she sat back down again. Kabuto glared and dragged her back to her room by her hair, making her fall off the chair. He threw her in unceremoniously. A jutsu was placed over the door to make sure she couldn't escape again. "Th-thanks for the food..."

The silver-haired shinobi stood in front of Orochimaru with a slight bow of his head. The snake calmly ate his food while he listened.

"_Sasuke-kun has said that she knows the future of all of us."_

"_And how is this possible?"_

"_He saw his life played out in a book of pictures, including the death of Itachi."_

"_And where was I at this time?"_

"_He did not say."_

Orochimaru discarded the towel on his lap and stood to pace.

"_How soon could this happen?"_

"_I am not sure, but I believe I saw a sliver of hope in his eyes."_

"_Before I take over his body?" _He paused.

"_Possibly, unless..."_

"_Do not even consider that thought!"_ he hissed in Kabuto's face.

"_Of course, my lord."_ He bowed low and exited to leave the Sanin with his thoughts.


	4. Chapter 3: Memories of Fangirlness

**A/N Yes, I am an Itachi fangirl. No, not in the sense that I _want_ him, but that I think he's the most amazing character ever.**

CHAPTER 3

Megan curled up with her knees to her chest, trying to get warm under her orange jacket. "Darn you..." she glared in the general direction of Mandy.

"What'd I do?"

"THIS WAS YOUR IDEA!"

"I'M SORRY, IT WAS THE INTERNET, I DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD WORK!"

"NEVER TRUST THE INTERNET, IT ALWAYS DOES WHAT YOU LEAST EXPECT!"

"...true..."

Megan hissed and poked a grumbling belly. Mandy's soft voice begged, "Feeeed meeeee...!"

"You don't deserve that taco now!" Megan snapped at Mandy.

"You agreed, so you no deserve waffle!"

"I don't care about the waffle! I just want to know where we are! And where are the others!"

"Well-yeah...hey, maybe only we are here!"

Megan punched her arm.

"OW!"

"You deserved it!"

Just then a light shined from a corner where a door had been opened, showing them that they had been trapped in a plain white room. _Geez, I'm in the asylum even in my fantasies..._Mandy thought. In stepped a tall girl wearing the Akatsuki cloak. She had soft blue hair with an origami flower in it. _Konan..._Her arm motioned for the girls to stand and follow. Mandy offered a hand to Megan and they linked arms as they walked behind her. Mandy looked all around, trying to find a means of escape while Megan tried to keep from running the other way.

_I don't wanna see Pein, I don't wanna see Kisame, I DEFINITELY don't wanna see Zetsu! _She looked to her left and saw a window. Rain steadily pattered against the glass. _Amegakure?_

Before long they were looking at Konan holding a door open for them. Hesitantly they walked inside. Mandy looked to Megan and her eyes widened when she saw the necklace with a ring on it still here. Megan looked at her curiously and then down at her hand cautiously slipping her own ring off and into the pocket of her loose black jeans. As they stopped in, Megan feigned clutching her chest to slip the chord under her shirt.

Pein sat behind a desk in front of them in all his orange-haired glory. He nodded and Konan began to search them. The two girls squirmed, especially when she reached into their pockets. She pulled a small, rubber green duck, a small scorpion encased in plastic, a small black clothe, a tube of chapstick, and the ring out of Mandy, then another chapstick, a couple ones and some quarters, and a folded up blank index card along with a cell phone and Ipod from Megan. All jewelry was removed, so Mandy felt exposed without her four-to-five bracelets per arm, choker, regular necklace, and three other rings. Megan lost her necklace with the ring, and a few rubber bracelets from one arm along with her favorite orange jacket. She whimpered and pouted.

All the items were placed in a basket and handed to Pein for inspection. His eyes narrowed when he saw the rings the girls had tried to hide. They were almost exact copies of the ones Deidara and Itachi wore, only the copy of Deidara's was blue and the copy of Itachi's was pink. The leader stood calmly with the rings in his hand, walked up to them, and asked, "_Where did you get these?"_

"W-well, since we don't understand you, we're just gonna assume what you said and go from there..." Mandy laughed nervously.

"What? Do you want to know about the rings?" Megan looked at the rings in his hand and pointed to them.

"_Yes, that. Where? How?"_ he asked dangerously.

"Uh..." Mandy walked over to the desk and carefully pulled something out of the basket, keeping her eyes on the ninjas. She walked back to Pein and held out the money. He seemed to understand with a nod.

"_So you bought them, but _where?"

Mandy blinked, confused. Megan thought for a second. "A store? Do you have any paper so we can draw?" She turned to Mandy.

"Ooo, you had one in your pocket!" Mandy ran back to the desk and picked up the index card, along with a pencil that was just sitting there. She motioned for Megan to come over.

Konan's eyebrow twitched. "_I think they are becoming too comfortable, Nagato-san."_

_"Maybe, but let them be for the moment."_ He watched with slight interest. Megan started to draw a building with a stick figure walking out with a bag around his shoulder. She handed it to Pein. "We bought them at a store. Pretty good price, too."

"Hn, emptied my wallet, it did..."

"Cause you'd bought that Build-a-Bear right before!"

"But I-...I miss Tom..."

"And I miss Jerry. Maybe these guys know a way to get back home. Let's just play this by ear." she turned back to Pein. "Did I answer your question, Nagato-san?"

"_So...they sell them in some store..."_

_"And they just...bought...some copies of our most valuable pieces to the plan?"_

"_Wait...how did you know my name?" _He paused and pointed to himself. "_Nagato?"_

"Uh...w-well..." Mandy paled and pointed to Konan. "She said it!"

Pein turned to glare at Konan. "_I-I figured they wouldn't recognize it if they did not already know it..."_

_"True...and if they had these rings concealed when they came in..."_

_"They must know their significance..."_

_"Yes...bring in Itachi. We may need his sharingan."_

_"Why not just ask Mad-"_

_"We cannot risk it! Now go," _he turned and sat back at his desk while Konan left and closed the door behind her. Megan gave Mandy a thanks-for-saving-my-hide look. "Did he just say Itachi?"

"I-Itachi? Eh..." she caught herself and tried not to look too creepy-fangirl-stalkerish.

The room was heavy with an awkward silence for almost ten minutes as Pein stared at the girls who stared at the wall and ground. "I could put on some music if you let me have my Ipod. I got one Japanese song," Megan looked over at Pein.

He gave her a blank look. She cautiously reached for the Ipod. Pein eyed it like it was a bomb. Megan picked up the Ipod and turned the volume so you could hear it through the earbuds; she played "Ready, Steady, Go." He just stared and let out one uncomfortable twitch. A second later he threw a kunai at it. Megan looked up at him slowly

"...NOT THE MUSIC?" Mandy fell to her knees.

"Did you really just do that?" Megan in a sudden Southern accent. She had her fists clenched. "I paid that with ma own money!"

"HOW WILL WE SURVIVE? NO MUSIC!" she silently sobbed. "...wait...they probably don't have the same wallplugs to charge it, so...oh well. This is all a horrible dream. I'm gonna wake up soon, and all you little peoples will be gone..."

Megan stormed up to Pein. "I don' care if yer the dadgum president of America! You can't just take us here, take our stuff, and destroy ma Ipod!" She was nearly in his face.

He glared a challenge when the door opened up. Konan walked in with none other than Itachi behind her. Mandy tried to keep from staring but it was too difficult. "Hey dude, can you knock me out?" she whispered to Megan. Megan didn't break her gaze towards Pein. "S-seriously, I can't look or I..." she looked. And couldn't look away. "Well...I feel short...his bangs look flatter than I expected; I'm happy..." Of course the entire time he had only looked at Pein.

"_Where is the one with my ring?"_ Itachi said monotonously.

"_Why is the taller one...glaring...?"_

"_I destroyed her sound-making toy."_

"_Ah..."_

Pein turned his attention back to Itachi. "_The one in black."_

"_Hn. May I see it?"_ Pein nodded and he picked up the ring in his purple-nailed fingers. "_It's...pink..."_

"_But it is _your_ symbol and design."_

"_Yes..."_

"I have a sudden bad feeling," Megan looked over at Mandy.

"...I wanna hug 'im...would it be bad if I hugged him...?" Mandy's voice shook a bit.

Megan glared at her. "You wanna die?"

"N-no, but...I dunno if I can help it..." she said in the chibi voice.

"Seriously. Think of the consequences!"

"..._And you want me to look into their past?"_

"_Yes; it does not matter which one you examine first."_

He slowly turned around and looked at the girls with his blank expression. Megan felt her stomach jolt when he looked at them. "He gives me the creeps, man!" Mandy 'hn'ed and tried to stay standing without shaking.

"...I give up..." she sat down criss-cross and put her hands on top of each other, then her chin on top of them like Sasuke had back at the academy. She stared without seeing at no certain point on the wall. Megan urgently pulled up on the shoulder of Mandy's sleeve as Itachi walked closer.

"Duuuude..."

"Neeee, I can't. I'll go all fangirl only...this one's real...and I can actually touch his skin...instead of a felt plushie..."

For the moment he ignored the one on the ground and turned to the one standing. His sharingan swirled and she froze, unable to look away. He pulled out any recent memories from the past six months from her mind, through her eyes, into his. Mostly he saw people walking through a crowded building, big black boxes being pushed up a hill, and kids her age laughing at a grey table with odd looking food. The last memory was in a maroon color room; a kitchen.

"_This is stupid!" A boy with brown hair yelled. _

"_Calm down! It's just an essay!" Megan yelled back. _

"_I don't undestand!" _

_Megan sighed at the boy. "I'll help you after I get back from Mandy's." _

_He grunted. "You always forget." _

_She ruffled his hair which he hated. "I won't this time. I promise." She grabbed her bag and left the room. "Ready Mom!"_

He managed to understand enough that she, like him, had a little brother. He moved on and looked back even further to see any mentions of the Akatsuki. After a minute he let her go.

Her head spun a bit so she sat down. She was shaking from the fear of having to stare at the sharingan. "Heh. Hard to read the memories of a person with short-term memory loss?" She gave him a mocking stare.

"_What have you seen?"_ Pein asked.

"_A book shelf with books showing Uzumaki Naruto's face on the front."_

"_So...they have books about our lives?"_

"_Most specifically Naruto's,"_ he confirmed, then turned to the other.

"_Did you see what it said about us?"_

"_No, it is all in a foreign language."_

Mandy felt him come closer, but refused to move. He knelt down in front of her, right in her line of eyesight. She didn't want to close her eyes and feel more vulnerable, so she allowed herself to sucked in.

Sound was the most predominant thing; horns and then hard rock. A couple hands reached out and hugged all sorts of teenagers, then would later reach to close a door. He went more rapid through the daily memories, but a few stuck out. There was a miniture stuffed...him...hanging from her mirror, a shirt with him on it, and a bag with his eyes, the Uchiha clan symbol, a crude copy of his headband, and some Akatsuki clouds on it. Of course there was the ring, a version of an Akatsuki cloak, and a couple posters of him and Sasuke. Further back were images of an old Madara, a young Sasuke, an even younger Itachi, and all of the members of the Akatsuki.

There he stopped, seeing he had all he needed.

"_This one knows about the future.I assume the other does as well," _he rose and turned to Pein.

"_What do you mean by the future?" _he and Konan, who stood to his right, narrowed their eyes.

"_They have seen the death of Orochimaru."_

"_I see...you are dismissed; please escort those two back to their cell as you leave."_

"_Hai, Pein-sama."_ Itachi motioned with his hand for the girls to stand and follow him. Mandy's knees shook and she grabbed onto Megan's arm.

"Dude, does your brain feel like a part of it just melted but...re-hardened?" she swayed back and forth.

"Yeah," she grabbed Mandy and supported her. "I told you I had a bad feelin'!"

"I think I want to wake up now...or like...wake up in five minutes so I can hug 'im first..." she stared at Itachi's back.

"You're crazy! He just read our minds! He probably knows about your obsession! You wanna worse? And don't say we're asleep cliche."

"Well...I gotta have some hope, eh? 'Cause you know we're gonna get our butts kicked or worse..." She looked over to Megan. Megan glared at Itachi.

"I know."

He opened the door to the completely dark, blank white room and stood aside so they could enter. Mandy calmly walked to the corner and sat down against the wall with her knees to her chest.

"Ya'll should invest in some paint and lighting if you're going to keep us here," Megan complained.

Itachi ignored her, glanced back to the one in the corner, and closed the door, locking them inside.


	5. Chapter 4: Undies and Chopsticks

**A/N So yeah...ta-da! What do I write in these things?**

CHAPTER 4

"_How troublesome..."_ Shikamaru dragged as he pulled down books from the library shelves. A few mothers sitting nearby, reading to their children, laughed quietly. He looked at the covers and saw cartoon images of animals and people hugging. "_Can't they learn our language with some jutsu?"_

_"T-Tsunade-Saraha said that picture books would be a good idea, because that's how we learned as kids..." _Hinata took the books to the check out counter.

_"Yeah, but that's how we learned to read, not talk." _He followed behind with a bored expression.

"_But it could help..."_ Hinata carried the books back to the girls' apartment. She opened the door and saw a few spots of white dough on the counter. She set the books on the coffee table and her and Shikamaru walked over to Alicia.

"I-I'm trying to make pancakes..."

"YOU NEED THE MIX, SMART ONE!" Sarah yelled from her room.

"THEY DON'T HAVE THE MIX!"

"SO YOU DON'T MAKE PANCAKES!"

"Anywho, thanks for the..." she looked and saw what the covers looked like. "What?" she pointed.

Hinata smiled and picked the first one up, showing her the contents. Alicia deadpanned and shook her head.

"Th-thanks, but..." she bowed a bit. "I don't think I'll have the patience for that."

Shikamaru had grown bored and wandered at the doorway to Alicia's room, seeing everything in a tidy mess. He moved on to Sarahantha's door. He knocked, but heard only a few grunts in reply. He waited a moment and heard even more grunts and the sound of someone falling. "_H-ehy, you okay?"_

"Not...really..."

Of course he didn't understand so he burst in, but had to turn away with a slight blush. She stood there in her underwear, hunched over the dresser, trying to get a drawer unstuck.

"_S-sorry, I thought you were being attacked..."_

Since he'd turned around, he didn';t see the shoe aimed for his head. His face met the floor and Sarah stood over him from her doorway, a sheet wrapped around her. Kiba walked through the front door then and saw the scene. "_Huh, way to go dude. And here I thought you were the quiet type..."_

_"Baka..."_ Shika's voice was muffled by the carpet.

"Alicia, my drawer's stuck again!" Sarah called way too loudly.

"Can't you see I'm dirty?"

"I don't care, you can get it open and I want my pants!"

"Gah!" she shrugged off her apron and stepped on Shikamaru's back to get to the bedroom, successfully yanked the stubborn drawer open, and went back to cleaning up the mess.

Hinata giggled. "_Shikamaru-san, maybe you could help Sarah learn better."_

_"What do you mean?" _he sat up against the wall, rubbing the back of his head.

"_Well, she would have killed me if I'd done that..."_

_"Why?" _Hinata asked.

"_'Cause she hates me!"_

_"You only gave her food to Akamaru! I can't imagine _why!" Shika looked sarcastically at Kiba.

_"But that was a week ago!"_

_"But you made her hate you right off..."_

"_S-so, she might be receptive to you, Shikamaru-san."_

_"Hm, doesn't mean I have a clue what to do."_

_"Just...talk to her...make it like a date." _Kiba wiggled his eyebrows.

"_Th-that could work..."_ Hinata smiled faintly, thinking of Naruto.

Shika sighed and got to his feet, then knocked on Sarah's door again. He waited for her to come out, then motioned for her to follow him. She had a plain blue t-shirt and dark brown shorts that went to her knees. She looked at him curiously, then to Alicia who shrugged, Hinata who smiled, and ignored Kiba, before trailing along behind him. They walked along the market streets, looking between the shops in an awkward silence. They passed by the Yamanaka flower shop, and Shikamaru nodded to it. The doorbell chimed as they entered, revealing Ino behind the counter in an apron. Sarah wandered off to look at the flowers.

"_Nee, Shikamaru, who's your new girlfriend?" _she smirked. Sarah turned around with an angry twitch at the sound of her voice. "_Oh, it's _you."

_"So, you've met her?"_

_"Yeah, why are _you_ with her?" _she glared.

"_It's my mission to teach her our language."_

_"Good luck; the Hokage-Saraha wanted me to talk to her and if I couldn't, who can?"_ she waved her hand up and down in a pompous fashion.

Shika sighed and walked out, motioning for Sarahantha to follow. She gladly did with a glare sent to Ino.

"_Hey, where are you going?You didn't even buy anything!"_

_"To work on my mission," _he called over his shoulder. _How troublesome...now what?_

Her stomach growled and she pulled on his sleeve, catching his attention. He looked surprised, then led them into Ichiraku's Ramen.

"Noodles for breakfast?"

He just looked at her, then remembered she coudln't read the menu. "_Ramen."_

"Oh...yeah, that makes it better..."

"_Hey, Teuchi-san? Could you hold up a piece of meat for me?"_

_"Uh...why?"_ the old man looked tired.

"_'Cause she doesn't understand our language, and I don't want to order just outright for her."_

_"Finally got yourself a date, huh? 'Bout time you saw women can be worth more than their trouble."_

Shika glanced wearily to make sure she didn't understand. Sarah just looked around, acting all confused by trying to figure out what the different symbols meant. Teuchi held up some raw meat with chopsticks.

"_Hardly. I need to teach her." _He pointed to the meat and got Sarah's attention. "_Pork."_

_"Pork._" She nodded and repeated.

He thought for a minute, then pointed to her, pretended that he took the meat and was trying to eat it, then looked back to her.

"Uh, yeah, I'll take some..." she nodded.

"_Good, two pork ramens please."_ He turned back to face Teuchi. Sarah watched curiously as he prepared it, then eyed it hungrily when the finished smell wafted over her. She watched Shikamaru pick up chopsticks and break them, then did the Sarahe. Many failed attempts later, she managed to get some noodles wrapped around one chopstick then eat from there. Shika deadpanned with noodles hanging out of his mouth. Sarah smiled nervously mid slurp and hurried up. Shikamaru stood and moved to her right. He then took her hand and put the chopsticks in the right position, then moved her fingers, showing her how it should work. Her face pinkened a bit, then more from her anger at herself.

"_Got it?"_

She nodded, and managed to eat normally from then on. He never noticed her slight blush.

_"You sure she isn't your date, lad?"_ Teuchi smiled suggestively.

"_Of course I'm sure." _Shikamaru glared.

They finished the rest of their ramen in silence, then walked more around Konoha. Occasionally Shikamaru would tap her shoulder, point to an object, say its name, and she would repeat it. Other times he let her soak in the environment. He always kept a somewhat bored expression, typical of him, but there was a certain curious gleam in his eye. Sarah's brain hurt from all the foreign words, but she tried to soak them in as much as she could. _Might as well attempt to learn the language; never know how long I'll be stuck here..._She did notice his earings, which she normally wouldn't go for, but they seemed to suit him. What she really wanted was to let his hair down so she could see just how long it really was. _Eh, he's cute, but...I don't want to have _another_ guy I like..._She had to admit that it was comforting to be able to talk to him, and have no idea if what he said back was good or bad. _It's like...talking to a sandwich or something, but a cute sandwich...hat speak back to me in it's own language...wait, a sandwich? I gotta stop letting Melanie be so random around me..._

Her stomach growled again, reasonably so since it had been almost noon when they had ramen, and now it was closer to five. Shikamaru noticed and nodded back in the direction of the apartment.

"_Hai,"_ she said, to which he smiled a bit and she laughed.

When they got back to the apartment, Sarah wasn't surprised to see Kiba unconscious in the hallway. Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, leaning over the body to open the door. They found Hinata and Alicia sitting on the couch, Hinata holding up a pictured dictionary and repeating the words for Alicia to learn. A couple cups sat on the table, steaming from fresh tea. Alicia turned and saw the other two.

"Oh, hey. We made some soup stuff, enough to last us for lunch for a week, so you guys can have some if you want," she motioned to the fridge then turned back to Hinata.

"_H-how did it go, Shikamaru-san?"_ Hinata was relieved to be able to set the heavy book down for a second.

"_She's a quick learner. Should only take a couple weeks."_

"_You could take her out on a date everyday then, hehheh." _Hinata put a hand over her mouth as she giggled.

Shika's dull look grew even more drawn out. "_Kiba went spying?"_

"_He saw the incident with the chopsticks."_

"_How did I not notice him?"_

"_You were paying too much attention to Sarah-san?" _she offered.

"_Maybe..."_

"_I-I hope you don't mind my asking, Shikamaru-san, but do you like her? K-Kiba-kun said he thinks you do..."_ she looked down at her lap, a slight blush on her face from asking such a bold question.

"_Well, I can't know 'cause I can't even talk to her, but if I did it would be pointless because I don't have time for any sort of relationship. I get too many missions."_

"_O-oh, I-...n-nevermind..." _she'd looked up excitedly, then back down.

"_What, you've got me curious now...?"_

"_W-well, I just th-thought that it'd be a shame i-if you could have had something with someone, b-but never did because you thought other things would g-get in the way..."_ she hurried out.

He thought for a moment. "_You've got a point...I still can't know until I can talk to her..."_

Hinata looked more hopeful and nodded enthusiastically. "_H-Hai!"_ She then went back to teaching Alicia, but Alicia held her hand up and shook her head.

"No, I'm too tired to learn more. Uh..._arigatou_ though." Hinata smiled shyly and closed the book, then waved and headed out the door.

"_See you tomorrow, Alicia-san, Shikamaru-san, Sarahantha-san." _She bowed, then began dragging Kiba out of the way. Sarah leaned over the counter and waved, then went back to heating up two bowls of soup. Alicia had gone to her room to shower-making sure to lock the door in case Kiba had gotten any ideas from Shikamaru's little accident earlier- so the other two were left alone. The soup was eaten in silence. Once they were finished, Sarah got up to clean the bowls, but Shika went to help. Even more awkward silence followed. Before long, Sarah was waving to Shikamaru as she closed the door and he went into the apartment across the hall.

"So, you've got a new boyfriend, huh?" Alicia stood in the door to her room, wearing gym-type shorts and a plain white shirt, drying her hair with a towel.

"Shut up," Sarah grabbed a pillow and threw it at her head.


End file.
